It’s comeback time!

https://masoncontractors.azurewebsites.net/Public/News/20110924070000-1.jpg" width="600" height="338" border="0" alt="Have you hit bottom yet?" />
Have you hit bottom yet?
Has this recession kicked you in the teeth like it has almost every contractor in the country? Have you hit bottom yet? And, where is the bottom?

There are plenty of horror stories out there about how bad each of us got slaughtered during the last three years. The bigger your company was, the worse you got drained. (That doesn’t work out very well for a fellow like me, who has several companies as the world comes crashing down.) When this happens, you either move fast to make cuts and changes, or go out of business even faster. Many decisions I had to make weren’t popular, but they had to be made. However, due to my open-book management approach and incentive-based pay systems, my managers were experiencing the down turn with me. That made it easier as they could see in advance we had to adjust to the changing times.

With the banks and bonding companies breathing down my neck — telling me they were going to stop extending credit and bonds to the construction companies, and due to the blood bath two of my companies were taking, it was like we were down 24-7 in the last quarter of a football game. One company, alone, had dropped from $10 million in sales to $3.6 million virtually overnight.

I remember the meeting during which I told my people we had to do the unimaginable to save that company. We were going to have to turn sales around, even though no one was buying. That’s when a dose of reality hit me like a freight train: The bad economy was here to stay. The first thing I had to do was stop blaming the sales problems on the bad economy and learn to adjust to it. In other words, I had to find out what was still selling and adapt to it. I told my controller and CFO, “If that ship is going down, I am going to be on it as the captain always goes down with the ship.” I was going to work hands on, daily, with this one company until we fixed it, or suffer the embarrassment of failure together with the managers of that company. It was time to develop a comeback plan!

The plan included making enough cuts and changes to drop our break-even point from $700,000 per month to $400,000 — not an easy task to accomplish. On top of that, we had to take sales that had dropped from an average of $800,000 per month to $200,000, back up to $500,000 per month. It was unthinkable that we could pull it off, but I rolled out the plan anyway.

Now, I will have to admit that I had a hard time believing my own plan at the time, but I knew we had no choice but to make it work as the alternative was fatal, not only for this company, but also for my other companies. Everyone immediately got on board with the plan, and only three months after rolling out the plan, we brought sales to the $400,000 monthly break-even point. Not too bad, considering we had 18 months of continuous losses when the plan was rolled out. Then, eight months later, we started exceeding our new $500,000 per month goal and have made a nice profit during the last six consecutive months. Wow, talk about a close one!

Is it comeback time for you? If so, here are a couple tips. First, look at your situation for what it really is, while understanding that we are now living in a different economy that is most likely here to stay. Second, make a plan based on that reality, and carry it out. You may be surprised by what your people can do when they have a “comeback” plan and a leader bold enough to lead them through it.
About: Featured
Echelon Masonry Introduces Ashton Brick, Its Latest Line of Artisan Masonry Veneers
April 2025

Echelon Masonry, North America’s leader in architectural masonry products and materials, announces the availability of its newest product line of artisan masonry veneers, Ashton Brick, in select states. Combining a classic brick aesthetic with durable con

MCAA Showcases Innovation at North Florida Masonry Showcase
April 2025

On Friday, April 11th, we had the pleasure of representing the Mason Contractors Association of America and our Outreach and Education Division at the North Florida Masonry Showcase. This event welcomed 15 high school students who demonstrated their growi

Thank You For Bidding In The 2025 Online Auction
April 2025

The MCAA extends a huge thank you to everyone who bid in this year’s online auction. With hundreds of bids on over 150 items, this year’s auction was another huge success. We also want to thank all of our amazing donors who put items up for auction. Wit

Preparing Masonry Jobsites for Summer Weather
April 2025

Spring is in the air, and summer is right around the corner. With that in mind, it’s time for all of us in the masonry industry to start preparing for warmer weather. It is very important that we consider the risks associated with working in the summer he